To link to the entire object, paste this link in email, IM or documentTo embed the entire object, paste this HTML in websiteTo link to this page, paste this link in email, IM or documentTo embed this page, paste this HTML in website

249
knock on doors and usually walk away with
sweets or coins. The survival of Jonnkonnu
in Wilmington after slavery was remarkable
and by the 1880’ s the celebration had
peaked in participation. 62 However, the
violence of 1898 marked an end to the long
tradition as Waddell’s Board of Aldermen
decreed on December 26, 1898 that “ the
wearing of disguises of any kind by any
person or number of persons, whether in the
form of masks or otherwise on the streets or
other public places of the city is hereby
prohibited.” The new law was enforced by
police arrest and $ 10 fine. 63 By mid
twentieth century, oral tradition in the
community among older African Americans
agreed that the end of their Jonkonnu
celebrations was due to the violence of
1898.64 Whites took over the celebrations,
with young boys following the “ Coonering”
tradition and enjoying the ritual for
themselves as early as 1905.65
A second celebration that was
cancelled as a result of the violence was the
annual Emancipation Day observance. The
celebration routinely took place on New
Year’s Day each year, with festivities
including a parade, speeches and music. By
1874, a permanent organization had been
created to organize the event and chairmen
annually were selected to plan the
62 For a detailed description of Jonkonnu in North
Carolina, see Elizabeth A. Fenn, “ ‘ A Perfect
Equality Seemed to Reign’: Slave Society and
Jonkonnu,” North Carolina Historical Review, ( April
1988), 127- 153.
63 Laws with similar wording had been passed during
the height of the Ku Klux Klan movement in order to
discourage the use of masks to protect men who
threatened or attacked blacks in the 1870’ s. This
ordinance was clearly designed to affect the
Jonkonnu celebrations. Minutes of the Board of
Aldermen, December 26, 1898, Wilmington, North
Carolina, North Carolina State Archives.
64 Fenn, “ Slave Society and Jonkonnu,”
65 William B. McKoy, Wilmington, N. C.: Do You
Remember When? ( Greenville, S. C.: Privately
Published, 1957), 141- 145.
celebration. The planning and preparations
took place throughout the year and
Emancipation Day was seen as a highlight
of the year by many who recalled slavery.
One of the largest commemorations took
place in 1895, with a parade through the
center of town and speeches given in a
packed Thalian Hall. Wilmington’s white
newspapers routinely covered the event, but
coverage became sporadic after November
1898. It is unclear if the January 1899
celebration, to be led by Andrew Walker,
Luke Grady, James Howe, Elijah Green, and
John Holloway, took place. The
Wilmington Messenger noted that the
parade was not held, but services could have
taken place in churches. The local leaders
reorganized and by 1902 the day was once
again marked by speeches, parades, and
music. 66 Emancipation Day celebrations
declined nationwide around 1910 although
they persisted in Wilmington with regularity
until mid- century. The decline in
commemorating the day has been seen by
66 Most Emancipation Day celebrations were held in
local churches instead of public spaces such as
Thalian Hall. Historian Fitzhugh Brundage has
called early Emancipation Day celebrations a way for
blacks to “ celebrate their history and participate in
civic life in ways that had been impossible during
slavery.” He contended that the commemorations
were “ an unmistakable challenge to white
understandings of the past.” Historian Mitch
Kachun suggested that, despite racial violence
throughout the South, Emancipation Day celebrations
persisted “ to a greater extent than one might expect.”
However, Kachun explained that, instead of public
spectacles lauding the merits of African American
citizenship and pressing participants to push forward
in every way, speeches urged “ racial harmony” and
statements meant to appease whites. Reaves,
Strength Through Struggle, 3- 6; Wilmington
Messenger January 3, 1899, January 2, 1903;
Wilmington Star, January 2, 1898; W. Fitzhugh
Brundage, The Southern Past: A Clash of Race and
Memory ( Belknap Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts,
2005) 10; Mitch Kachun, Festivals of Freedom:
Memory and Meaning in African American
Emancipation Celebrations, 1808- 1915 ( Boston:
University of Massachusetts Press, 2003), 178- 181.

249
knock on doors and usually walk away with
sweets or coins. The survival of Jonnkonnu
in Wilmington after slavery was remarkable
and by the 1880’ s the celebration had
peaked in participation. 62 However, the
violence of 1898 marked an end to the long
tradition as Waddell’s Board of Aldermen
decreed on December 26, 1898 that “ the
wearing of disguises of any kind by any
person or number of persons, whether in the
form of masks or otherwise on the streets or
other public places of the city is hereby
prohibited.” The new law was enforced by
police arrest and $ 10 fine. 63 By mid
twentieth century, oral tradition in the
community among older African Americans
agreed that the end of their Jonkonnu
celebrations was due to the violence of
1898.64 Whites took over the celebrations,
with young boys following the “ Coonering”
tradition and enjoying the ritual for
themselves as early as 1905.65
A second celebration that was
cancelled as a result of the violence was the
annual Emancipation Day observance. The
celebration routinely took place on New
Year’s Day each year, with festivities
including a parade, speeches and music. By
1874, a permanent organization had been
created to organize the event and chairmen
annually were selected to plan the
62 For a detailed description of Jonkonnu in North
Carolina, see Elizabeth A. Fenn, “ ‘ A Perfect
Equality Seemed to Reign’: Slave Society and
Jonkonnu,” North Carolina Historical Review, ( April
1988), 127- 153.
63 Laws with similar wording had been passed during
the height of the Ku Klux Klan movement in order to
discourage the use of masks to protect men who
threatened or attacked blacks in the 1870’ s. This
ordinance was clearly designed to affect the
Jonkonnu celebrations. Minutes of the Board of
Aldermen, December 26, 1898, Wilmington, North
Carolina, North Carolina State Archives.
64 Fenn, “ Slave Society and Jonkonnu,”
65 William B. McKoy, Wilmington, N. C.: Do You
Remember When? ( Greenville, S. C.: Privately
Published, 1957), 141- 145.
celebration. The planning and preparations
took place throughout the year and
Emancipation Day was seen as a highlight
of the year by many who recalled slavery.
One of the largest commemorations took
place in 1895, with a parade through the
center of town and speeches given in a
packed Thalian Hall. Wilmington’s white
newspapers routinely covered the event, but
coverage became sporadic after November
1898. It is unclear if the January 1899
celebration, to be led by Andrew Walker,
Luke Grady, James Howe, Elijah Green, and
John Holloway, took place. The
Wilmington Messenger noted that the
parade was not held, but services could have
taken place in churches. The local leaders
reorganized and by 1902 the day was once
again marked by speeches, parades, and
music. 66 Emancipation Day celebrations
declined nationwide around 1910 although
they persisted in Wilmington with regularity
until mid- century. The decline in
commemorating the day has been seen by
66 Most Emancipation Day celebrations were held in
local churches instead of public spaces such as
Thalian Hall. Historian Fitzhugh Brundage has
called early Emancipation Day celebrations a way for
blacks to “ celebrate their history and participate in
civic life in ways that had been impossible during
slavery.” He contended that the commemorations
were “ an unmistakable challenge to white
understandings of the past.” Historian Mitch
Kachun suggested that, despite racial violence
throughout the South, Emancipation Day celebrations
persisted “ to a greater extent than one might expect.”
However, Kachun explained that, instead of public
spectacles lauding the merits of African American
citizenship and pressing participants to push forward
in every way, speeches urged “ racial harmony” and
statements meant to appease whites. Reaves,
Strength Through Struggle, 3- 6; Wilmington
Messenger January 3, 1899, January 2, 1903;
Wilmington Star, January 2, 1898; W. Fitzhugh
Brundage, The Southern Past: A Clash of Race and
Memory ( Belknap Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts,
2005) 10; Mitch Kachun, Festivals of Freedom:
Memory and Meaning in African American
Emancipation Celebrations, 1808- 1915 ( Boston:
University of Massachusetts Press, 2003), 178- 181.